On Wed.s Tavis Smiley Show, author Nicholas Kristof talks about why some white folks have a hard time understanding that systemic racial disparity exists in the criminal justice system. Kristof says some insightful things, the piece is worth watching, but he doesnt mention how invested the dominant culture is in the perception that the government and the rest of the establishment is fair and just. Theyre very invested. Theyve built the entire foundation of their lives on figuring out how to make it work for them, and how best to thrive within it. Talking them out of the idea that its equitable for everyone is as difficult as getting a believer to give up Jesus. Theyve likely never had reason to doubt. I grew up in OFallon, Mo when it was a very rural little town of 1400. Thanks to social media, and email before that, Im in touch with a lot of them. There is a huge divide between how my city friends see the Michael Brown incident and the way my OFallon friends perceive it. These are not bad people. These arent hateful people. Over all they are kind, decent, working class people. Some of these people have opened their minds through dialogue. It has taken months. These folks were never open to the facts or statistics. Being called racists my FB passersby did absolutely nothing but get their backs up They arent racists, they are, however scared that their world has been upended. They feel existentially insecure. Facts are how some of us justify our own beliefs, but they rarely change minds. People discount facts that dont support their world view. You have to appeal to commonalities. Keep broadening the scope of their world. Introduce thoughtful black perspectives. Link to articles about how other cities are expressing their outrage and embarrassment. And most of all, get them to question why they choose to think the way they do. Ask whether there is any evidence they could be given that would change their minds. If youre lucky, no matter what their initial answer, they will learn something essential about themselves and the way they see the rest of the planet. pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/nicholas-kristof/?show=23410
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 20:44:31 +0000
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